"Politics: from the latin word poly, meaning many; and ticks, meaning blood sucking parasites." -- PJ O'Rourke

Something is really starting to reek in electoral politics. I must admit I’m completely baffled by its source, but it remains nevertheless. Could someone please explain to me how it is we keep electing the dolts in Congress? With an approval rating approaching the IQ of a garden slug, we’ve not only collectively preserved the status quo, we’ve actually added to the problem significantly. Let’s review some of the more egregious examples, shall we?

John “Abscam” Murtha (D) was reelected! How on earth did that happen? His corruption has been well known since the ABSCAM sting caught him contemplating accepting a bribe on tape. That alone should have been the end of his career at taxpayer’s expense, but no. Then he publicly condemned fellow Marines as “Cold Blooded Murders” on national television. All of the accused Marines have been acquitted and one of them is suing Mr. Murtha for defamation of character. Then this bastion of public service actually called his constituents racists and followed that up calling them rednecks to boot. And yet this man was reelected. Unbelievable!

Ted “Bridge to Nowhere” Stevens (R) was nearly reelected despite his recent conviction on multiple felonies. Not just run of the mill felonies like drunk driving or robbing banks; felonies related to abuse of his official office! In spite of his obvious lack of integrity, the party backed him and he was nearly reelected. Unbelievable!

The good folks in Minnesota are working feverishly to count and recount Al Frankin, the biggest caricature of an idiotic politician since Jessie “The Body” Ventura became the governor of that state, into office. Unbelievable!  

Marion Barry was caught on tape smoking crack with a prostitute and was reelected AFTER serving prison time. Unbelievable!

Ray “Chocolate City” Nagin utterly failed his constituents during the Katrina disaster, made clearly racist remarks publicly, and was returned to his mayoral office by the voters of New Orleans. Unbelievable!

William “Cold Cash” Jefferson was caught red handed with a $90K cash bribe in the freezer of his home and was returned to office by a 57%/43% margin. Unbelievable!

How is it possible for democracy to survive if we keep supporting, enabling, and most importantly reelecting obvious rogues to office? How is it possible for people of this ilk to retain the support of honest men? Have we all become so inured to political criminality we just ignore it? Unbelievable!

Scottie

This seems to be the attitude of the Lefties in my life after the historic election of Barack Obama. It would seem a reasonable request. But it comes from a group of people that among other things:

1. 1.    Have earnestly complained for the past eight years about the 2000 election being fixed, and stolen by George Bush. I heard more often than I can count how George Bush wasn’t THEIR president. But we are now expected to silently ignore the massive voter fraud perpetrated by ACORN? Surely they can see the irony?

1. 2.    Have perpetrated memes questioning the integrity of President Bush as a liar and a puppet of Halliburton. How many times in the past eight years have I heard these absurd lies perpetuated by the same people that now want conciliation from us? Yet we are to accept as truthful the President Elect’s word that he sat in a church for twenty years and never heard any anti-American or bigoted rants from his pastor and mentor? Are we also to conclude he was being truthful when he passed off as inconsequential his abiding friendship and collaboration with an activist revolutionary?  I also seem to recall his promise to accept public funding in the election, but he didn’t. You can spin that any way you wish, but that still rings as a bald faced lie to me. As far as I can see, their man has told a lot of bald-faced honest-to-goodness lies to obtain his current position. Isn't the dissonance here almost palpable?

    
2. 3.    Have peddled the attack on our beloved homeland as a conspiracy by our own government. This has been endlessly repeated by rabidly anti-Bush zealots since the attack occurred. This nattering has continued despite every single aspect of any possible conspiracy having been thoroughly debunked. Yet now we are asked to give President Obama the benefit of the doubt when the inevitable attack his projection of weakness will provoke becomes reality? His own Vice President elect has predicted the attack in advance. Surely there is ample fodder for some conspiracy theories should Joe Biden prove prescient. It's a fair observation, isn't it?

    
3. 4.    Have trashed George Bush for doing what he deemed necessary to protect us from an avowed and implacable enemy. In that effort, he has been absolutely successful for seven years. When that enemy arrives, which in all likelihood they soon will be, will our newfound friends bind Mr. Obama’s hands with the same zeal as they did President Bush’s? Will the new President be the recipient of the same vitriol from these newfound friends of ours when things go wrong? Will they finally grow up and see that it's our war and not just President Bush's? 
    
4. 5.    Have accused President Bush of “shredding” the Constitution. Are we now to overlook Mr. Obama’s avowal to do some shredding of his own? Are we to now stand by and tolerate the shredding of our foundational principals in the name of conciliation? Are we to accept the efforts on Mr. Obama’s part to refashion the legal foundations of our society? Do we simply ignore his vow to appoint justices to the Supreme Court that will simply reinterpret and rewrite the constitution he has sworn to protect and defend? If the constitution can mean anything you want it to mean, it doesn't really mean anything, does it?

 

As I pass through my incarnations
in every age and race,

I make my proper prostrations
to the Gods of the Market Place.
Peering through reverent fingers
I watch them flourish and fall,

And the Gods of the Copybook Headings,
I notice, outlast them all.

We were living in trees when they met us.
They showed us each in turn
That Water would certainly wet us,
as Fire would certainly burn:
But we found them lacking in Uplift,
Vision and Breadth of Mind,
So we left them to teach the Gorillas
while we followed the March of Mankind.

We moved as the Spirit listed.
They never altered their pace,
Being neither cloud nor wind-borne
like the Gods of the Market Place;
But they always caught up with our progress,
and presently word would come
That a tribe had been wiped off its icefield,
or the lights had gone out in Rome.

With the Hopes that our World is built on
they were utterly out of touch,
They denied that the Moon was Stilton;
they denied she was even Dutch;
They denied that Wishes were Horses;
they denied that a Pig had Wings;
So we worshipped the Gods of the Market
Who promised these beautiful things.

When the Cambrian measures were forming,
They promised perpetual peace.
They swore, if we gave them our weapons,
that the wars of the tribes would cease.
But when we disarmed They sold us
and delivered us bound to our foe,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings
said: "Stick to the Devil you know."

On the first Feminian Sandstones
we were promised the Fuller Life,
(Which started by loving our neighbour
and ended by loving his wife)
Till our women had no more children
and the men lost reason and faith,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings
said: "The Wages of Sin is Death."

In the Carboniferous Epoch
we were promised abundance for all,
By robbing selected Peter
to pay for collective Paul;
But, though we had plenty of money,
there was nothing our money could buy,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings
said: "If you don't work you die."

Then the Gods of the Market tumbled,
and their smooth-tongued wizards withdrew
And the hearts of the meanest were humbled
and began to believe it was true
That All is not Gold that Glitters,
and Two and Two make Four—
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings
limped up to explain it once more.

As it will be in the future,
it was at the birth of Man—
There are only four things certain
since Social Progress began:—
That the Dog returns to his Vomit
and the Sow returns to her Mire,
And the burnt Fool's bandaged finger
goes wabbling back to the Fire;

And that after this is accomplished,
and the brave new world begins
When all men are paid for existing
and no man must pay for his sins,
As surely as Water will wet us,
as surely as Fire will burn,
The Gods of the Copybook Headings
with terror and slaughter return!

Rudyard Kipling

Note: A copybook was a study device used in England in Kipling's time. The copybook was a book of lined pages with a heading at the top exhibiting in perfect penmanship a wise saying, or proverb, or rule of thumb. The student was expected to copy these sayings down the page as an exercise in penmanship. The wisdom of the ancients was thus inculcated in them as they practiced. Also note the italicized “They” differs from the non-italicized “They”.